British Library Publishes Latest Gender Pay Gap figures

The British Library has reported on its Gender Pay Gap for the sixth year of what is now an annual cycle of reporting. As an employer with over 250 staff, the Library is required by law to carry out Gender Pay reporting under the Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap) Regulations 2017.

The median Gender Pay Gap at the Library for 2022 is 0.21%, against a provisional national median pay gap of 14.9% (Office for National Statistics, 2022). This is slightly lower than last year’s figure of 1.89% and is less than the 11.7% median pay gap reported by the ONS for the ‘Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities’ sector.
The mean Gender Pay Gap is 2.33% (against 13.9% nationally), and shows a slight increase of 0.04%. The Library’s mean pay gap is less than the average sector mean pay gap of 8.2%.

Jas Rai, the British Library’s Head of People, said: “By effectively eliminating the gender pay gap we will be correcting long-standing inequalities in our workforce and our sector. The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women and at the British Library we have continued to invest, support and implement new, different and progressive ways of working to retain and attract women into our workforce. Women do still earn less than men and we very much need to focus on what it will take to close the gap for good. In 2023 we also commit to publish our ethnicity and disability pay gaps, our focus must be on ensuring the British Library is a place where everyone can succeed regardless of gender, ethnicity or background.”

Roly Keating, the British Library’s Chief Executive, said: “In 2018, I made a commitment that we would do everything we could to close the gap completely by our anniversary year of 2023. So I’m cautiously pleased that this year’s result brings us close to 0% at last, which is a tribute to work by many colleagues across the Library. The various factors involved are complex and subject to fluctuation, however, so there is no room for complacency. Our goal remains full and sustainable equity between people working at the Library, regardless of their gender.”